Swietenia macrophylla as agroforest plant

botanical features, geographical distribution, uses made by Tanoy Roy

1. Tanoy Kumar Roy Department of Agroforestry and Environmental Science Sylhet Agricultural University,Sylhet-3100 An assignment on Mahogany Tree 1

2. Name: Mahogany Scientific Name: Swietenia macrophylla Family: Meliaceae The specific name "macrophylla' means large leaved and comes from Greek words " makros ” means large and ' phyllon ' means leaf. 2

3. Botanical features; Swietenia macrophylla is a very large tree, reaching a height of 30-40 m and a girth of 14 m; in favorable conditions it can reach 60 m high and 9 m girth. Trunk straight, cylindrical, with a buttressed base. Bark rough, flaking off in small patches. 3

4. Leaves Leaves paripinnate, up to 60 cm long; leaflets 6-16, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, slightly oblique, light green or reddish when young, dark green and shinning when mature, up to 20 cm long . 4

5. Flowers Flowers in short, axillary panicles. 5

6. Fruit Fruit is a woody capsule, erect, brown. Seeds deep brown, winged at one end only. 6

7. Adaptability   Altitude range: 0-1500 m Mean annual temperature: 20-28°C Mean annual rainfall: 1600-2500 mm 7

8. Soil type It grows best on well-drained sites with medium to heavy soils. 8

9. Geographical distribution Swietenia macrophylla is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. 9

10. Establishment: Occurrence/Planting site Presently widely planted in different parts of the country, particularly in the form of block or linear strip plantation. It is also planted in association with other trees like Dalbergia sissoo. In the homestead, it can be grown in linear pattern. 10

11. Collection of seeds Seeds are collected from the ripe fruits during January to March. Collected fruits are dried and stored. From one fruit 40-60 seeds are available. Seeds are brown in color. Per kg seed contains about 1600-2150 seeds. 11

12. Seedlings Seeds are sown in seedbed on line or in polybag. The germination rate is 40% and it takes about 15-20 days to complete germination. Direct sowing is possible. 12

13. Care and protection Young Mahogany terminal shoot is attacked by top shoot borer. The borer penetrates through top shoot and goes inside vertically a few inches, as a result lateral shoots occur. Those lateral shoots should be removed, when they are small. 13

14. Other Diseases Mahagony is subjected to various fungal diseases, such as- anthracnose, witches’ broom, leaf spot, root rot, canker and stem canker and gall. 14

15. Pruning & thinning   Early pruning is needed specially to remove the lateral shoots or multiple shoots, otherwise big knots will develop. Pruning should be done without any bark damage.The weak, suppressed and deformed trees should be removed from the plantation. 15

16. Growth and yield Significant variation in growth has been reported depending on quality of seedlings used for planting. Small seedlings perform better growth compared to tall seedlings. Mahogany tree has slow growth at an early stage. The initial yield per tree can be about 0.5 cubic feet per year and a later stage much better growth can be expected. 16

17. Use Mahogany wood is reddish-brown in color and moderately hard, used for making furniture, musical instruments, construction work etc. 17

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